*Winners on Bold
Live from Sacramento Raw kicked off with John Cena. He’s still recovering from his elbow injury but he still wants to face CM Punk at Hell in a Cell for the WWE Championship. But before he got into that he managed to be the funny Cena that the Internet hates and little kids love. He made jokes about Antonio’s nipples and asked AJ in a date. For things like that his promo didn’t felt strong. If you want to convince someone to give you a fight you don’t go and make stupid jokes. Thankfully this was a short promo something unexpected from the opening of Raw. After Cena’s words Ryback’s music hits and we got the first match of the night.
Ryback vs Primo & Epico w/ Rosa Mendes—As expected a short match with Ryback facing both Colons at the same time which made a different dynamic from other matches. Incredible how over the “Feed me More” chants. I think that Punk is really making this guy. Since the signals of a possible match started Ryback has been cheered more and the “Goldberg” chants have disappeared. He has everything except a voice and that’s important.
When it looked like Clay was once again on the good side of creative when he get his entrance it was just an excuse for having him and R-Truth dance for a little while until Vince interrupted them. Mr. McMahon then told the guys that he was addressing the State of the WWE.
As announced Mr. McMahon came out after commercial to address the State of the WWE, but like has happened the past couple of weeks he was interrupted by the WWE Champion. Also like other weeks this was another moment of pure gold. The segment had Punk talk being disrespected and he even asked Vince of he respected him. To which owner of the company answered that he respected the fact that he has hold the WWE Championship for 321 days. But then he like the others talked about other legends and once again Stone Cold’s name was brought up again. When Punk said that Stone Cold was respected for beating him makes you realize that why a man like that is respected and a man like Punk isn’t. At least it makes me side with Punk. The WWE Champion continues with his promo that ends up with him slapping Mr. McMahon what made the old man challenge him for the main event. The segment ended with CM Punk saying to Heyman “Trust me everything is going to be fine”.
Tag Team Tournament Match: Prime Time Players (Titus O’Neil & Darren Young) vs Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara—Second match of the night was the first of the two quarterfinals of the Tag Team tournament. Really good match. Also the hybrid masks looked weird.
Punk is shown on his locker room with a worried Paul Heyman telling him how his match against Vince was a lose and lose situation.He told him that they didn’t need a crazy millionaire making their life a leaving hell.
Wade Barrett vs Sheamus via DQ with Big Show at ringside—Unexpected match to say the least. With Barrett’s repackage seeing him in an actual match so soon and against the World Champ was unexpected. The action was good and the match was interesting but it hopefully ended without a clear winner. But that was because for some reason Tensai appeared to attack the World Champion. Also it was nice seeing Big Show getting the upper hand when Sheamus was unable to connect the Brogue Kick. That and the fact that Ziggler hasn’t been talking about his briefcase makes you think he will cash in soon.
Backstage segment with Punk and AJ where he tells her that what he will do to Mr. McMahon might cost her job.
Antonio Cesaro vs Tyson Kidd—After hitting the Neutralizer on Clay last week Antonio once again looked strong tonight. With a little time he and Tyson put on a really good match. Hopefully Cesaro will be given more time in future matches.
Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) vs Alberto del Rio w/ Ricardo Rodriguez & Dolph Ziggler w/ Vickie Guerrero—When you put talented wrestlers and the fans care about them you get a great match and this was a great match. Seeing the fans into a match involving the Tag Team Champions makes you excited about the tag division. Also it makes you wonder if one day people will not chant “Yes” to Daniel Bryan, after all the “What?” chants never left and Stone Cold retired.
Vince McMahon is backstage with Jim Ross who is trying to convince him to not have the match, but Vince decides that he is having the match.
For some reason the WWE had a segment with Larry King, his wife, The Miz and Kofi Kingston. Thankfully it didn’t last long, and it ended with The Miz getting bathed on water and getting hit by Kofi Kingston. Is nice to see Kofi be in singles again but feuding for the IC title isn’t something new for him.
Tag Team Tournament Match: Rhodes Scholars (Damien Sandow & Cody Rhodes) vs Santino Marella & Zack Ryder—Second match of the tournament Quarter finals. Match was short and did it’s job of getting heat on the villain team. Afterwards the match Jobber squad (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal) attacked the loser team. Jobbers attacking other jobbers don’t make sense, at least for now.
Vince is backstage joined by Heyman who after some words says to Vince that Punk will do to him what Lesnar did to his Son in Law. Perfect segment to bring up Lesnar once again.
Divas title Match: Eve Torres © vs Kaitlyn with Layla at commentary—Who likes Layla at commentary? Nice short title match to set up the rematch between Eve and Layla for Hell in a Cell.
Alberto del Rio is asked backstage by Mathews of what he thinks about Orton’s tweet about him and he just leaves without answering.
Backstage a hilarious skit with Larry King, his wife, Daniel Bryan and Kane. Best quote of the night delivered by Kane: “That was Larry King? I thought it was skeletor”
Once again in the locker room Paul Heyman tries to convince Punk but at the end says to him that he has to destroy Vince.
Vince McMahon vs CM Punk w/ Paul Heyman—Outstanding main event. The crowd was into every bit of the match, a match that I wouldn’t mind seeing again. It just had two men that you know that don’t like each other fighting each one. Also Punk added a nice touch by adding the “What Maneuver!” spot. It really felt like going into the past, that might help ratings. Also they’re building a new star thanks to Punk. I really don’t think Ryback would’ve gotten the reaction he got if Punk wasn’t hated the way he is hated now. After tonight Vince made it clear to Punk that next week he has to choose between the two man I truly believe he prefers wearing the belt or he will choose his opponent for Hell in a Cell.
At the end of this night Raw produced a good show. Maybe the bad ratings bring the best out of them. This Raw was just must-see TV with just the Main Event alone. Is a shame that everybody is talking about the fan incident involving Punk, the worst part is people talking without knowing what really happened. Now let’s just see what happens. But like Lance Storm said on Twitter Punk clearly has three options: John Cena, Ryback or the fan he hit this night. But that’s a lesson to be learned, don’t touch the performers.
Previous Week Score: 7
This Weeks Score: 8.7/10
